It's Been a While...

It's so hard to even know where to begin, so much has happened in the past weeks. So this is either going to be a really long post, or broken up into different parts. Either way, bear with me and hopefully I can describe my adventures enough for you to feel the chill of the snowy alps and smell the salt in the ocean of Sweden.

So, on March 22nd, I left relatively early on a train to Leibnitz for a rotary meeting. This meeting is to organize for next years' big rotary figures from all over Austria. We had a special appearance as exchange students and put on a type of show for them. As usual, we got a little lost before finding our youth hostel in Leibnitz, which was a little frustrating carrying all my baggage and my guitar, but things are always more enjoyable in the company of fellow exchange students. Our hostel ended up being really cool and probably one of the nicest we've stayed in so far. We all got dressed up in dirndls and lederhosen (typical Austrian dress) as well as our decorated blazers and then hiked up to a castle to our rotary meeting. We were all in high spirits and were welcomed warmly by hundreds of Rotarians. Representatives from every country presented something for the crowd, and a friend and I sang "America the Beautiful" for the USA. We proceeded to have a really fancy dinner where I had some really cool conversations with the people at my table. Some pretty debatable topics came up, where most adults were likely to get in an argument. Yet we have developed such a tolerance, understanding and love for each other that it ended up being an intelligent discussion rather than a fight. It made me really respect everyone there. Anyway, then this awesome trumpet band came in, and we turned the while room into a dance hall! Later, we were filtered into a room where all the Rotarians had finished their dinner, and we were told to simply mingle. I had some pretty great conversations with new Rotarians , and got several compliments on my German, which is always nice!

The next morning we all took a train to Graz, and from there we were supposed to head directly home. Of course that didn't happen and I ended up following my good friend Crash to his house to drop off his stuff. He has a really modern house and I loved seeing how he lives. I didn't have much time in the city, because I had to take a train to Kirchberg in the afternoon. So crash was planning on giving me a quick tour and then dropping me off at the train station. Unfortunately, the zipper on my boot suddenly broke, and we had to do a quick repair, so it would hold until I got to Kirchberg. That took up a lot of our time, so we ended up going to a really modern cafe and drinking chai lattes instead. (I'll be heading back to Graz in a few weeks and can your it then) It was nice to have some one on one time with Crash and I always enjoy our conversations. He gave me a big hug and kiss goodbye, and then I was off to Kirchberg to go skiing for a few days before heading off on an even bigger adventure...

 

Laura and I

Laura, Simon, and I

Trecking up the mountain with guitar

 

 

Busy, busy, busy!

Monday at school was awesome! I joked around with all my classmates and felt totally loved! The day flew by and it just felt excellent! Tuesday at school was awful. Well, not awful, but all of a sudden I was feeling akward and out of place just like my first few months there. It's funny how things can change so quickly... Anyway that was sort of a bummer but after school I met up with Alyson, Erin, Elena, and Leah (all exchange students) and we went to an Easter Market together! The market was just like the Christmas Markets in December except this time they were Easter themed! We walked around and ate some yummy food and simply enjoyed our time together. I laugh so much when I am around those people and really feel free just to be myself! Then we came across a GIANT collection of decorated eggs and I spent so much time admiring them, and then finally picking one out for myself. Austria never ceases to amaze me with its artsy spirit and creativity! So naturally I took way too many pictures! I was supposed to meet some friends from school to go get frozen yogurt, but then it got cold and started raining so we decided to do it some other time. But that gave me the rest of the afternoon to just wander around downtown Vienna and really appreciate this city I'm living in! It is definitely starting to get a little sentimental! When I got home, Babsi and Niki wre out to dinner and Theresa wasn't home yet, so I had the house to myself. I played guitar for almost 3 hours which felt really good because I haven't done that in a while! Before I went to bed, I checked my Facebook and saw a message from my mom. These past few weeks all I've been thinking/talking about is how hard it is going to be to leave all my friends, family, and experiences here. I haven't been feeling homesick at all. But then all of a sudden I saw this message from my mom and I realized how long it has been since I've talked to her, or really let myself think about missing home. And right then and there I had a total break down and started crying. It's funny how randomly homesickness can hit you and how sudden it comes. But I was feeling much better this morning, and my awesome day today made it even better!
So I only had two hours of school today and when I got out at 10:00 I met Alyson and Elena at Starbucks and we had a great morning of conversation! Then, we met up with a huge group of Vienna exchange students (Erin, Alyson, Elena, Shannon, Leah, Kate, Nicole, Laura, Paula, William and Thayanne) and we had a picnic together at Stadtpark! The weather was so beautiful and we were all just happy to be in each other's company! We played with ducks and gave some beggars our extra food and laughed the whole afternoon. I brought my guitar and played some songs and everyone sang along! It was such a great afternoon and it has put me in the best mood! This evening, I am going to a concert with my host mom and I am really looking forward to that! Tomorrow I am eating dinner at Alyson's house and that should be awesome because her host parents are Chinese and I get a traditional Chinese meal! Right now I've got to go pack because I leave Friday morning to go on 3 trips and I won't be back until April 6th!! So this might be my last blog for a while!

Feeling a little like Italy!

Handmade entirely from bamboo

Yes, those are eggs!

There were 6 more rooms like this! Huge!

Schladming Ski Week

I spent the last week skiing in Schladming with all the other exchange students and I had an amazing time! The Vienna crew bought group tickets which means they are really cheap, but we can only take the really slow trains, and we have to switch trains often. Usually, this leads to a procession of small disasters and we are always late. However this time, being the first time we organized it as Oldies we were determined for everything to run smoothly. And someway, somehow, after almost 8 hours of trains, layovers, and the chaotic shuffling of luggage, we arrived in the Schladming train station with half an hour to spare! Once we got there, excitement started to rise in the air with the arrival of each new train loaded with exchange students. I got the absolute best hug from Crash and continued to receive some much needed hugs through the rest of the afternoon. Two buses hauled us up the mountain to our typical Austrian mountain hotel and I settled into my room with Juliet, Laura, and Sam.  The Oldies get hoodies every year that we designed together, and we all have a nickname on the back. Sam and Laura organized the whole process so we spent a good chunk of the afternoon just making sure everyone had their hoodie. Then I went and rented ski boots and set up all my ski gear to head out in the morning and then finished the day with a tasty dinner with all of my best friends.

The next few days had the same schedule of getting up early, heading out to ski with an instructor in the morning, lunch in a mountain hut, and then free ski in the afternoons. I got placed in the advanced group and had so much fun chasing some really excellent skiers down the mountain! I haven't taken ski lessons since I was a kid, so it was also really nice to re-learn some technique and improve my skills. By the end of the lessons I could tell I improved a lot! Our whole group looked really good and it was so much fun to watch us shred up the mountain! It was pretty cloudy and cold most of the days, and we didn't really get a good view of the surrounding mountains until we got high enough up out of the fog. It was an incredibly profound moment to raise up out of the fog and turn around to see endless mountains floating on a sea of clouds. One day, a group of us skied up to the highest point in Schladming and I was totally astounded. The view took the breath from my lungs and made my knees weak. It was definitely one of those moments where it hits me how truly blessed I am. All I could keep thinking was, "I am standing on top of the Alps right now. I am surrounded by the best of friends, and I am living my dream."

The famous Schladming run

Me, Laura and Juliet

Our hotel on a foggy night

Got a little sun tanning in during a layover

Most of the Oldies

Above the fog

 

Catching a hat on my head to kill time at Linz train station

Some other highlights of the trip included: going to a ski show in Schladming with synchronized skiers, tricks, and fireworks, a group talent show where I sang with Cleo, Laura and Juliet, a disco/Rotary meeting, sledding down a 7 kilometer track, and a sweet powder day in the mountains! More than anything, I enjoyed being in the company of some of my favorite people on this planet, and getting to know each of them better. It was hard saying goodbye this time, as we are all realizing our time is coming to an end. Fortunately, most of us are attending a meeting near Graz on Friday, so we don't even have to go a whole week without seeing each other! We were all getting pretty sentimental on the train ride home though, and I am just a mess torn between feeling so happy and blessed to so sad that we're saying goodbye sooner than I'd like to. But this feeling has set us into planning mode and we are determined to get the things done that we dreamed for ourselves. It's going to be a rediculously bust next 14 weeks!

This week I'll be in school for 4 days, attending a world known concert at Vienna's famous Musikverein, having a picnic with friends, eating a real Chinese dinner at Alyson's house with her Chinese host parents, and then heading to Graz for our meeting! From there I go to Kirchberg for a few days of skiing, and then I'm off to Sweden! I am so excited to soak up every second of it!

Birthday and Catch Up

Whoa! Where to even begin? So Monday was my 17th birthday! Usually I'm not a huge fan of birthdays just because they seem stressful, but this year I had an almost perfect day! In the morning, I was surprised with birthday cake for breakfast! Babsi made me a Sachertorte from scratch! Sachertorte comes from the Hotel Sacher here in Vienna, and they are world renound for their chocolate cake with a layer of jelly in between. There are mimics in every cafe in Austria but the best come from Hotel Sacher (I have actually never tried an original). Anyway, the cake was fantastic and shortly after I headed off to school. I walked a different route than normal becuase my friend Kathi asked to meet me before school so she could be the first to give me a birthday present. It was nice to see her bright and smiling face a little earlier than I usually do, and I got a wonderful hug! We then walked to school together and once we got there, we had to wait outside the classroom because it was locked and the student with the keys wasn't there yet. It happens a lot, and I didn't think anything of it, but it turns out, most of my classmates were inside the room preparing a surprise for me! When they finally let us in I was greeted with sparklers, a table full off desserts and drinks, my smiling classmates, and of course the Austrian version of 'Happy Birthday'. (They actually sing the same song, just with 'liebe' instead of 'dear', but I always get a kick out of their accents!). I was so surprised and literally alsmost starting crying. It was so nice to see how much my class cares about me and that I've actually made an impact these past few months! I got a hug from EVERY single person in my class and we feasted and celebrated all day! It truly was a feast with chocolate cake, brownies, carrot cake, chocolate chip cookies, kids champagne, coffee, juice, and milk! We just carried around our desserts and drinks to every class and devoured everything else during the breaks... it was awesome! What was even more awesome is hearing that my afternoon class was cancelled! I called an exchange student friend of mine and asked her if she wanted to meet up for lunch. She was actually with two other exchange students at the time and we all met up for Italian and then went to a palace afterwards. Not a bad way to spend my birthday! Oh, and we hit up the American Food Store and I totally treated myself to Pop-Tarts! I had been so busy all day that when I finally came home and sat down, I realized I was feeling kind of bad. I figured I was just tired and had way too many sweets for one day, and I was still looking forward to dinner that evening with my family. Then, I got a phone call from Crash Ketchum, one of my really good exchange student friends! I haven't seen him since December, and it was really good to hear his voice and just catch up. That was an amazing birthday present all on it's own! I'm so grateful to have made such amazing friends over here and I'm really excited to see them all next weekend!!! Anyways, then it was finally dinner time and we sat down at the table to enjoy a typical Austrian meal. By this time, I really was feeling kind of queasy, but wasn't ready to end my birthday yet! I opened presents from my host family and family back home and was feeling pretty blessed. I got a beautiful necklace and cards from back home, and from my host family I got a bracelet with special meaning so that I remember my host family every time I look at it, and some really nice shirts! By this time, my health was really starting to decline and when Babsi and Theresa went to finish the dessert, I was shivering pretty bad. I was trying to talk to Niki but it was difficult because me jaw was moving up and down so quickly. Theresa made cake pops (a very difficult task) for me and she was so proud when she brought them in! I unfortunately could not bring myself to eat one, and had to excuse myself from dinner early. I rushed to bed and was covered in several blankets and goodnight kisses. Although the day ended on a sick note, I had such an incredible birthday here in Austria! I felt so much love from literally all over the world, and it truly took my breath away to see just how many people deeply care about me out there! So thank you to everyone for the gifts, phone calls, cards, and best of all, kind words!

So I spent the rest of the week totally wiped out and feeling so bummed because I JUST got over being sick! And, I really wanted to be in the class with my friends after all the nice things they had done for me. But, that's life! I ended up going to the doctor and I have a bacterial infection.... yay! But I started anitbiotics on Thursday and have been getting better every day since. This weekend Theresa, Babsi and I went to celebrate a family friends' birthday in his castle in the Waldviertel. We drove about 2 hours north of Vienna and met 50 other friends at the castle. Everyone participated in a ski race and there was a big party last night! Because of the antibiotics, I wasn't allowed to ski, but Theresa got 1st place for her age division! While the others were skiing, I wandered in and around the castle. The sun was shining, and it was a magnificent thing. I soaked up as much sun as I could, and when I had to go rest again in my room, I shifted with the sun as the day went on. I had a lot of time to read, and think this weekend. I've been feeling kind of weird lately, not homesick, but feeling kind of like I don't belong. It's probably because I haven't really gotten out of the house in forever, but it's a good thing I'm going back to school tomorrow! And it was good to have that time to think it through! The sun is finally staying out longer in Vienna and it was actually light out when we got home today! It's supposed to be warm weather all week and I'm really looking forward to the spring in the air! I am going skiing in Schladming next week with all the other exchange students, and I hope I'm feeling 100% by then!

American flag brownies one of my classmates made!

Some Birthday gifts!

Chilling at a castle!

Church Tour and More!

So the way the Austrian school system works, is if a teacher is missing, class just gets cancelled rather than getting a substitute. I also don't have to go to Latin or French class here, so I have a pretty open schedule. On Wednesday, by Ethics class was cancelled, so I got out of school at 10 am. I decided to take advantage of that, and of the excellent "Vienna's Best Churches" book I got for Christmas, and I organized an adventure. I picked out some of my favorite churches from the book, mapped out a route, and headed out with my camera in hand. It was fun to be a tourist again and to really enjoy the city of Vienna! I explored a part of the city that I haven't been to in a while, and indulged in a little window shopping. I really enjoyed the solitude of the churches, and how different they all were. The weather was kind of acting like the weather in Colorado normally does, and it changed about every 10 minutes. I would walk into one church in the pouring rain and come out to a snow storm! The sun even decided to grace the city of Vienna with it's presence, which was a gift all its own! It's been a pretty dark and cloudy winter and to feel the actual warmth of the sun on my face was pretty delightful! It is starting to come out more often and lasting longer, which means spring is finally coming! I am definitely looking forward to a little more Vitamin D! Anyways, I ended my day in a typical Viennese cafe with the best hot coacoa I've ever had! Overall it was an excellent day!

Not a church, but just one of my everyday views!

This alter is entirely made of wood

Everyone in Crested Butte is on school break this week so I've been Skype-ing with a lot of my friends lately. That makes me very happy and sad at the same time, and I think I need to seperate myself from that media for a while! I miss them all very much, but at the same time I am not feeling ready to go back to that yet! I've got 17 weeks from Monday until I fly home, and when you put it that way it doesn't seem too long! I'm really looking forward to everything I've got coming up in those weeks and hopefully making the most of every day like I did on Wednesday! My German course ended today so now I'm going to have some more free time! I will continue studying German though, and in May I am going to take a test to see if my German is proficient enough to study at the university here. Just to keep that option open, and to have that certified German that counts for credit in America!

As it starts to warm up I hope to start running again and maybe test out how my foot is doing. I also am considering taking a cooking or baking course, and I might start teaching a friend in my class guitar! Just a few things to fill up the free time! I wanted to send out a quick thank you for all the birthday cards and gifts! Grandma and Grandpa sent me a card with a bunch of pictures from me growing up, and my host family really enjoyed looking at those! Karleigh also sent a very loving card and I'm waiting to read the others on my real birthday! Almost 17 years old! Woohoo!

Sick again!

Man, I swear I have been sick more often in my 6 months here in Austria than at least the last two years combined! I had kind of been feeling a head cold all last week, but by Friday it really hit me. It didn't help that my German teacher was late for class (as usual) and we had to stand in the cold waiting for an hour. So when I got home Friday night, I crashed and didn't really move the whole weekend. That was a bummer becuase for one being sick in simply no fun. And I was invited to two birthday parties that weekend and couldn't make either of them! I was also invited to meet one of our 'newbies' (the exchange students come every six months, so I am now an 'oldie' and those who came in January are 'newbies'.) But I also had to turn that down becuase I couldn't get out of bed! Babsi and Niki took excellent care of me though, even setting up a mattress for me on the floor so things would be easier than up on my loft bed. After many remedies and some TLC, I finally went back to school today. My nose ran all day and I sneezed and coughed in a constant precession, and I think my whole class is afraid of me now! But hopefully I'll be better by this weekend! My 17th birthday is coming up, and on Saturday one of my really good exchange friends that lives in Graz, named Laura is coming to stay with me! We are also celebrating two other exchange students' birthdays this weekend, so it should be really fun! I also am going out to a cafe with a few girls from my class, and then having a small family dinner on my actual birthday on Monday! I got a package yesterday from home, and I am really really really excited to read the letters I got! I may have accidentally already read the one from Karleigh! But that is something I have definitely learned to appreciate during this exchange. Nothing makes me happier than reading and writing letters home, it's such an old art that isn't appreciated any more! I also realized the other day  that this exchange has made me so grateful for the love I recieve back home. I am incredibly loved and cared for over here, but the culture is different, and hugs are rare. I have one Austrian friend who hugs me every day just because I told her I miss them! Otherwise, I don't really get hugs until I see other exchange students. I literally have been having ten second dreams lately where I just get a solid hug from a random person. I'm definitely looking forward to getting some real ones soon!
Easter is coming up! Not really but in Austria they like to prepare for the big holidays early! So the decorations are starting to appear around the house! Here's a picture of my favorite, the 'Egg Tree' has fresh buds about to blossom, and eggs decorated from my host siblings and Babsi. She showed me every single one last night and explained all the memories to me. I can't wait to paint one of my own and hang it up there too!

Skifahren

I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy skiing in the mountains! My school had semster break this last week, and Theresa, Babsi and I (Niki had to work) drove to the house in Kirchberg on Friday afternoon. Once again, it felt awesome to be back in the mountains, and I was excited to ski some of the fresh powder that had been dumping from the sky! It was basically the same routine every day: Wake up at 8 to an excellent breakfast. Dress from head to toe in ski gear and apparel based on the weather, rush downstairs to gather our skis and boots and then run to catch the bus up to the gondola. Most of the days it was either snowing, or had snowed the night before, and I enjoyed plenty of powder! We always ate lunch in a mountain hut and I tried typical Tirolean (Tirol is the state in Austria) dishes. Then we skied directly back to the house and spent the afternoon relaxing and taking baths. Every night dinner was a special occasion and we had several dinners with friends. Then we would finally retire to bed with the currents of the river that lays next to the house creating a soft lullaby. In that order, the days flew by quicker than I would have liked! I met up a few times with another exchange student from French Candada who was also staying in Kirchberg. We skied with some of her school friends, and I was glad to make even more Austrian friends that I can ski with again when we go back in March. Niki took the train out to ski on Saturday and Sunday with us. On Sunday, Theresa and Babsi packed up the house and loaded the car ready to drive back to Vienna, and Niki and I went skiing. He likes powder snow just as much as I do and we spent the whole day hunting out the last patches of white fluff we could find. We ended up having a fantastic day that wasn't too exhausting because the snow was really light. We ended the day on a run that didn't require much skill (it was actually a snowed over road I think) but the scenery was beautiful. We went from the top of the mountain to the bottom following snaking river curves. There were ice falls and still running water falls that were sparkling in the sunlight. Everything was still coated in snow, and I just had a really peaceful moment to reflect on how fortunate I am. Going into this exchange program, I thought I wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country and maybe spend the year on a beach. But for some reason I made the spontaneous decision that Austria was the place for me. A lot of the time I ask myself, "What the heck was I thinking?" I hadn't heard German before in my life. I wanted to get away from the snow... But everything about Austria these past six months has been completely meant to be. I can't explain it, but I know that every moment I'm here, it is where I am meant to be. And in that moment skiing I couldn't help but smile at the magic of it all. The perfection in the details.

View from the lift

Church on the ski run

Being in Austria, I try and make an effort to visit as many places within Austria as possible. I really wanted to see Innsbruck, but it is a pretty pricey train ticket from Vienna. But Kirchberg is only about an hour train ride away, so I decided this was probably my only opportunity to go explore Innsbruck a little. So I hoppped on a train Saturday morning and called an exchange friend that lives there. Unfortunately, she was skiing with her host family and couldn't make it into town to see me. But it made it that much more of an adventure! I had no idea where I was going, so the second I stepped off the train I just started wandering. I ended up sort of on the wrong side of town, and was feeling a little sketched out for a while. BUT then I discovered this beautiful church with a massive graveyard. I walked around the cemetery for about an hour doing a lot of thinking. I find it really interesting to read the dates on the gravestones, and here in Austria they date back pretty far. I think it's really amazing that the same family dating back to the late 1700's all lies together. After I left the cemetery I spotted a pack of tourists (the cameras slinged around their necks gave them away) and I decided to follow them. On my walk into dowtown Innsbruck, the clouds began to lift and revealed the massive Alps prodtruding from every possible direction. I was in awe as a whole new beauty was added to this city. I was again surprised by how cute inner Innsbruck actually is. I've heard stories, but man this city is like a fairy tale. Cute cobblestone roads curve in an unorganized fashion throughout the city. Just like in Vienna, the streets are buzzing with vendors, tourists, and entertainers. But unlike Vienna., almost every building in Innsbruck was a different color and some were quite elaboratly painted. I explored every curve of the tiny streets and ended up at a really nice cafe. There I treated myself to a much needed cup of coffee and a slice of cake. I was making my way back to the train station when I coincidentally ran into two other exchange students, Rebecca and Celeste. Rebecca lives near Innsbruck and Celeste was spending the holidays with her, so they were doing a little touring of the inner city as well! I decided to take a later train back and spend a little time catching up with my friends. I got a more official tour of the city from Rebecca and we laughed a lot together! It was so good to see some exchange students again, and it made me really excited to see them all in March for our ski trip in Schladming. Leaving Innsbruck was slightly heart breaking, and I found myself again thinking of ways I could live somewhere like that. Leaving the mountains in general was rather difficult this time, and I was less than excited to be back in school today. But I really don't have that long before I go skiing with the exchange students, and then fly off to Sweden two weeks later! I celebrated my 6 month anniversary with Austria recently, and feeling pretty great about it! I've got so much to look forward to in the coming four and a half months that I am trying to make sure I can fit it all in!

The view from my departing train

 

Church in Innsbruck with famous ski jump in background

Innsbruck

Snowfall in Kirchberg

Dowtown Innsbruck

Innbruck's famous Golden Roof